Wash. Admin. Code § 392-141-310 - Definitions
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Superintendent" means the superintendent
of public instruction.
(2)
"District" means either a school district or an educational service
district.
(3) "Charter school"
means a public school operating under the provisions of chapter 28A.710
RCW.
(4) The definition of "school"
includes learning centers or other agencies where educational services are
provided.
(5) "Eligible student"
means any student served by a district or charter school transportation program
either by bus, district car, or individual arrangements meeting one or more of
the following criteria:
(a) A student whose
route stop is outside the walk area of the student's enrollment school site;
or
(b) A student whose disability
is defined by
RCW
28A.155.020 and who is either not ambulatory
or not capable of protecting his or her own welfare while traveling to or from
school.
Districts determine which students are provided with transportation services; however, only eligible students qualify for funding under the operations allocation.
(6) "To and from transportation" means all
transportation between route stops and schools both before and after the school
day. To and from transportation includes transportation between home and school
and transportation between schools, commonly referred to as shuttles.
Transportation not authorized for state allocations under this definition
includes, but is not limited to, transportation for students participating in
nonacademic extended day programs, field trips, and extracurricular
activities.
(7) "Home to school
transportation" means all student transportation between route stops and
schools both before and after the school day. Home to school transportation
does not include transportation between schools.
(8) "Basic program transportation" means
students transported between home and school for their basic education. Basic
program transportation includes those students who qualify under
RCW
28A.155.020 for special services and are
capable of protecting his or her own welfare while traveling to or from school
and those students who are enrolled in gifted or bilingual programs or homeless
students that do not require specialized transportation. Also included in basic
program transportation is transportation required to comply with the school
choice provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA).
(9) "Special program
transportation" means home to school transportation for one of the following
specialized programs:
(a) Special education
programs provided for by chapter 28A.155 RCW and where transportation as a
related service is included on the student's individual education plan or where
transportation is required under the provisions of Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or
(b)
Students who require special transportation to a bilingual program in a
centralized location; or
(c)
Students who require special transportation to a gifted program in a
centralized location; or
(d)
Students who require special transportation to their school of origin as
required by the provisions of the McKin-ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act or
the foster care provisions in the ESEA Section 1112 (c)(5)(B); or
(e) Students who require special
transportation to a district operated head start, district operated early
childhood education assistance program, or other district operated early
education program.
(10)
"Private party contract" means the provision of home to school transportation
service using a private provider (not in a school bus). Private party contracts
shall require criminal background checks of drivers and other adults with
unsupervised access to students and assurances that any students transported be
provided with child safety restraint systems that are age and weight
appropriate. Vehicles used must meet school bus specifications established in
chapter 392-143 WAC if they have a manufacturer's design capacity of greater
than ten passengers, including the driver. However, a vehicle manufactured to
meet the federal specifications of a multifunction school activity bus may be
used.
(11) "In lieu transportation"
means a contract to provide home to school transportation with a parent,
guardian or adult student, including transportation on rural roads to access a
school bus stop.
(12) "Count
period" is the three consecutive school day window used for establishing the
reported student count on home to school routes.
(13) The school year is divided into three
"report periods," as follows: September - October, November - January, and
February - April. These report periods are also referred to respectively as the
fall, winter and spring reports. The count period must not fall within five
school days of the end of the report period.
(14) "Combined student count" is the total
number of basic program or special program eligible student riders reported
during each report period. The combined student counts for the determination of
funding consist of the prorated basic program and special program student
counts from the prior year's spring report and the current year's fall and
winter reports. The prior school year's fall, winter and spring student counts
are used for the determination of the efficiency rating. The combined student
counts are prorated based on the number of months in the respective report
period. For a charter school in the first year of operation, the current year
fall count shall be used as the prior year spring count to determine the
combined student count.
(15)
"Average distance to school" means the average of the distances from each
school bus stop measured by the shortest road path to the assigned student's
school of enrollment.
(16)
"Prorated average distance" is calculated by taking the average distance to
school weighted by the number of months in the corresponding report period. The
prorated average distance used in calculating district allocation consists of
the prorated average distance from the prior year's spring report and the
current year's fall and winter reports. The prior school year's fall, winter
and spring average distances are used for the determination of the efficiency
rating.
(17) "Prorated number of
destinations" is calculated by taking the number of learning centers a school
district provides with home-to-school transportation service weighted by the
number of months in the corresponding report period. The prorated number of
destinations used in calculating district allocation consists of the prorated
number of destinations from the prior year's spring report and the current
year's fall and winter reports. The prior school year's fall, winter, and
spring number of destinations are used for the determination of the efficiency
rating.
(18) "Land area" is the
area of the school district in square miles, excluding water and public lands,
as determined by the superintendent. For educational service districts, the
land area value will be determined by the superintendent from the contiguous
area provided with transportation service.
(19) "Roadway miles" refers to the number of
public roadway miles within the land area of the school district, as determined
by the superintendent. For educational service districts, the roadway mile
value will be determined by the superintendent from the roadway miles within
the contiguous area provided with transportation service.
(20) "Walk area" is defined as the area
around a school where the shortest safe walking route to school is less than
one mile.
(21) "District car route"
means to and from school transportation where a district motor pool vehicle
(not a school bus) is used to transport an eligible student or students. Any
regularly scheduled home to school transportation in a district car is required
to be driven by an authorized school bus driver.
(22) "District car allocation" is calculated
by multiplying the total annual district car route mileage by the rate of
reimbursement per mile that is authorized for state employees for the use of
private motor vehicles in connection with state business in effect on September
1st of each year.
(23) A "low
ridership district" is defined as a district with an annual student count less
than two hundred eighteen students.
(24) A "nonhigh" district is defined as a
district meeting the eligibility requirements for a nonhigh district as
established by the superintendent of public instruction's school apportionment
and financial services section.
(25) A "transportation cooperative" is
defined as two or more districts sharing transportation operations
administrative functions. An interdistrict agreement for the provision of
maintenance services on school buses does not constitute a transportation
cooperative for the purposes of this chapter, regardless if the agreement
qualifies as a transportation cooperative under the provisions of chapter
392-346 WAC, unless shared operations administrative functions are also
included in the interdistrict agreement. A transportation cooperative has the
option of reporting as a single entity.
(26) "Alternate funding system" means an
additional funding system as provided in
RCW
28A.160.191, defined by OSPI to adjust the
allocation for low enrollment school districts, nonhigh school districts,
school districts participating in interdistrict transportation cooperatives,
and educational service districts operating special transportation
services.
(27) "Prior year
expenditures" means the total of school district transportation operations
costs for to-and-from transportation for the prior school year. All revenue
reported in transportation except for the state allocation for transportation
operations is deducted from reported costs, including in lieu of depreciation
allocations under the provisions of WAC
392-142-245 for districts
contracting transportation services. Any adjustments as a result of audits or
other adjustments to prior year costs shall not be included unless those
adjustments are correcting the actual cost of transportation operations for the
prior year. The basis for the prior year expenditures shall be the district
financial statement. School districts are only required to report adjustments
not reflected in the annual financial statement.
(28) "Expected allocation" means the initial
amount of funding resulting from the regression analysis calculation.
(29) "Adjusted allocation" means the expected
allocation plus any alternate funding system, calendar, or legislative
adjustments.
(30) For a district,
"actual allocation" means the lesser of the prior year expenditures including
adjustments by the legislature or the adjusted allocation. For a charter
school, the actual allocation is a final amount to be allocated for
transportation services using the process described in this chapter, plus any
funding provided under chapter 392-142 WAC.
(31) "Efficiency evaluation" refers to the
statistical evaluation of efficiency of a school district's transportation
operation using linear programming of the data required by the funding formula
and the number of buses used on home-to-school routes. Each school district is
separately compared to an individualized statistical model of a district having
similar site characteristics. The efficiency evaluation is expressed as a
percentage efficiency rating.
(32)
A district's "transportation funding percentage" is calculated by dividing the
district's actual allocation by the district's prior year
expenditures.
(33) The "state
median percent funded" is determined by calculating each district's
transportation funding percentage and taking the median value by sorting the
total number of reporting districts in descending order and selecting the
middle value. If there is an even number of districts, the bottom value in the
top half shall be used.
Notes
Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.150.290. WSR 11-15-007, § 392-141-310, filed 7/7/11, effective 8/7/11.
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